Architecture and Aesthetics?

The architecture of the Intranet is the logic of access and navigation to various features. For example, if real-time organizational charts are an important Intranet feature, it is essential that the architecture of the site makes getting to those charts easy and intuitive and that, when the user arrives, the charts are more informative than a DOS screen or a mainframe text screen in the "old" system.

Architecture should be both logical and intuitive. Architecture should be a clear, logical progression, for example, from org chart, to mission, to objectives, to services of the particular area.

AESTHETICS:

WHAT DOES AESTHETICS HAVE TO DO WITH A BUSINESS SITE? ISN'T THAT FOR ARISTOTLE OR SOMEBODY LIKE THAT TO TALK ABOUT?

Aristotle is dead. You are here now with an opportunity. Once there were DOS screens and Macintosh screen "Desktops." Those people using DOS were "too busy" and "too serious" to bother with "Fisher-Price" Mac computers. Then Bill Gates developed Windows, an inadequate emulation of the decade-old Mac system. As we all know, Windows is clumsy, prone to freezing,
and, all in all, just a mere shadow of the Mac in all its elegance.

On the Intranet, let's do better than Bill. Let's get it right the first time. To be successful, an Intranet should be graphically sophisticated, consistent in design, and elegant in GUI (graphical user interface). This simple elegance of design will invite the user to the Intranet services while making those services easier to access.

A Style Book is an inexpensive way to avoid expensive cyber mistakes.
(No, we. re not talking about Vogue.)

USA Today looks quite different from the Wall Street Journal because each has its own philosophy, its own style, and its own style guide to ensure that both the appropriate philosophy and style of conveying information are followed. USA Today color codes each section; it uses
bright pictures and colorful graphs. The Wall Street Journal, well, it. s the Wall Street Journal.

In the same way, different corporations have different philosophies about what information should be presented on an Intranet and how that information should be displayed. A Style Book is an excellent way to make those decisions before there is a cyber explosion of conflicting approaches, clashing creativity, or lack thereof, at your corporate Intranet.

HOW WOULD I DEVELOP A STYLE BOOK?
We confess to a conflict of interest here. See the CD-ROM, the Intranet Style Book Template at web site: www.corporate-ave.com. We think it. s super-helpful and a mega-money saver. (Do you want false modesty or refreshing candor?) NEXT?

Well, yes. Frames is one of those architectural, navigational decisions you will have to make.

OK. TELL ME ABOUT FRAMES.

For an Intranet, frames are several block-like divisions on a web page. Usually, the functional result is that part of the page has a frame which becomes a navigational bar. On this page [see below],for example, note that the frame allows the user to investigate three different areas of Corporate Communication: Presentations, Articles, and Seminars.

Bottom Line:

Remember the Mac; forget DOS. Let' s get it right the first time.

A Style Book is a means of avoiding expensive and embarrassing on-line mistakes.

Frames sound boring, but are a strong organizational device.